'The Biggest Loser' reveals finale finalists, cuts Vinny and Becky

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 12/07/2011

John Rhode, Antone Davis and Ramon Medeiros were revealed to be The Biggest Loser's three finalists during Tuesday night's penultimate broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's twelfth season.

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John Rhode, a 40-year-old special education teacher and football coach from Mesa, AZ, and Antone Davis, a 44-year-old restaurant manager and former NFL player from Knoxville, TN, advanced to next week's live finale after they were the two contestants out of the Final Four who had posted the highest weight-loss percentages at the Week 12 weigh-in and landed above the red weigh-in line.

"I'll own [that I'm a competitor]. I do. I want to be The Biggest Loser. I'm not going to be happy until I'm pulling confetti out of my hair. Okay? You call me out? Let's go. I'm not afraid to go toe-to-toe with anybody on this scale -- anytime, any person in the history of the show. I don't care. Let's go!" John said upon learning he was a finalist.

"I'm competing now against Ramon and John. It's the Final Three. This is the Battle Royale. I am absolutely pumped, because now, I'm really sick of John to be honest with you and I'm ready to go after John right now. Everything that I've done up to this point is to get there and now, it's game on -- now, it's time to go battle," Antone said.

In addition, previously eliminated contestant Ramon Medeiros, a 27-year-old tattoo artist from Florence, CO, wonThe Biggest Loser's twelfth-season marathon against all the players who had also been ousted throughout the competition, and therefore, he automatically earned a spot in the Final Three.

"The rivalry between John and Antone is great for me. These two big giants going head to head, I'm cool with that. Let them talk and let them squawk and let them worry about each other, and then I'll slip right in underneath the radar and beat them both!" Ramon explained.

The Biggest Loser's twelfth twelfth-season episode began following the elimination of Sunny Sinclair, a 41-year-old fifth grade teacher from Frisco, TX, after the competition's eleventh weigh-in.

Afterward, the Final Four -- which consisted of John; Antone; Vencent "Vinny" Hickerson, a 27-year-old songwriter and entertainer from Nashville, TN; and Rebecca "Becky" Comet, a 51-year-old math teacher from Benton, AR -- all went home and were greeted by their proud friends and family.

The contestants and their loved ones then received video messages from veteran trainer Bob Harper, new trainer Anna Kournikova and new trainer Dolvett Quince, congratulating them on how far they came. As part of the videos, they also saw glimpses of what they had looked like prior to beginning their The Biggest Loser journeys.

The contestants were given inspiration and the motivation to continue, because they saw first hand how drastic their transformations really were.

While Vinny was at home, he proposed to his longtime girlfriend and she accepted. Last night's episode then showed footage of Vinny, Antone, Becky, and John all working out in their hometowns with the help of their trainers who had come by to visit them.

Once the hometown visits were over, the four contestants returned to the place where they had begun their The Biggest Loser experience -- a California desert just outside of Death Valley. During their first week on the show, every contestant was forced to walk or run one mile down the desert to reach the three trainers who had been waiting for them on the other end.

This time around, The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney explained they'd be participating in a 26.2-mile marathon and would be joined by the 11 previously eliminated twelfth-season contestants. Everyone would be competing against each other to finish the challenge in the fastest time, and the person to do so would win a spot in the finals.

As the show started out as a "Battle of the Ages" theme, the contestants, once again, lined up from the youngest to the oldest person based on the numbers displayed on their T-shirts.

In addition to winning a place in the Final Three and resume competing for the $250,000 grand prize, the top five finishers would also receive a money prize. The person to finish the marathon in the fastest time would receive $25,000, the second-place finisher would earn $10,000, the person to cross the finish line in third place would receive $7,500, the fourth-place finisher would get $5,000, and the contestant to come in fifth place would earn $2,500.

Bonnie Griffin had to sit out of the marathon because of her knee, but everyone else participated. While the contestants were running, they were joined at certain miles by the trainers along the way. The trainers gave them a boost and pushed them to keep going and to remain at a steady pace.

Although Vinny and Joe Mitchell desperately wanted to finish the marathon to prove to themselves they could do it, they were pulled from the race because of physical issues that put their health in danger. Vinny was struggled to walk on his ankle, while Joe had pains running through his knee and hip.

After five hours passed, Ramon finished the marathon in first place with a time of five hours, five minutes and 41 seconds, and he couldn't have been happier about his position in the competition. He said he trained for the marathon ever since he was eliminated from the show, and he couldn't wait to take the other finalists head on.

Courtney Rainville stayed right on Ramon's tail -- although she had a slight lead on him for awhile -- and clocked a time of five hours, nine minutes and one second.

John then finished in five hours, 15 minutes and 39 seconds, while Jessica Limpert completed the marathon in fourth place in five hours, 17 minutes and 25 seconds. Patrick Ferrari ran the course in six hours, 24 minutes and 29 seconds, crossing the finish line in fifth place.

The following day, The Biggest Loser's twelfth twelfth-season elimination weigh-in, the last weigh-in on the ranch before the live finale airs next week, commenced.

Alison explained there would be a red weigh-in line in which the two individuals to post the lowest weight-loss percentages would fall below it and both be eliminated, while the two safe contestants would automatically become a part of the Final Three -- joining Ramon.

The amount of weight the Final Four contestants lost at home was all that mattered at this point, and Becky was the first person to step on the scale. She dropped from 172 pounds to 162 pounds, losing 10 pounds and posting a 5.81% weight-loss percentage.

Vinny then weighed in, and he learned he shed 28 pounds throughout his time spent at home and posted an 8.92% weight-loss percentage after falling from 314 pounds to 286 pounds.

John dropped from 296 pounds to 267 pounds after he lost 29 pounds and posted a 9.80% weight-loss percentage, while Antone shed a total of 30 pounds. Antone posted a 9.29% weight-loss percentage after falling from 323 pounds to 293 pounds.

As a result, Antone, John and Ramon will be the Final Three competing in The Biggest Loser's twelfth-season finale -- the first time in the show's history that all of the finale weigh-in finalists competing for the $250,000 grand prize are men.

Vinny and Becky were eliminated, but they still had a chance to lose more weight upon their return home and ultimately compete for the $100,000 at-home prize.

(Photo credit NBC)

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